


Fictober Days 4: Freeze, 6: Husky, 7: Enchanted, 8: Frail, feat Josephine and Asena

by PusillanimousBitch1138



Series: Fictober 2019 [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: AU, Cute, F/F, Fluff, It's an AU, Modern AU, Pool Party AU, Warning: Alcohol Use, also appearances from: genevieve/isabela and blackwall/gemma and cullen and leliana, did I mention it's an AU, might become a 2-parter, pool party modern au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-24 03:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20900888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PusillanimousBitch1138/pseuds/PusillanimousBitch1138
Summary: Pool party modern AU. Josephine attends a pool party of one of Cassandra's friends, the absurdly lovely Asena, and a romance is born. The only problem? Asena's mysterious career.It was supposed to be a oneshot dammit.





	1. Chapter 1

“Who did you say lived here?” Josephine raised her eyebrow at Leliana.

Leliana just waved her hand as they wove their way through the convoluted apartment complex. “A friend of Cassandra’s.”

Cullen snorted from behind them. “It’s not like you to hold back on gossip, Leliana.”

Leliana huffed. “I don’t really know. All Cassandra said was there would be a party.”

Josephine and Cullen shared an incredulous look, but they didn’t have time to press for more information because they rounded a corner and music drifted over to them. “Oh good, you made it!” Cassandra waved to them from among the group of people loitering around the pool. A bunch of paper lantern lights were rustling in the warm summer breeze, casting a warm glow over the cool light from the pool. There were about two dozen people in total, including many of Cassandra’s friends, just about everybody wearing either bathing suits or summer clothes. Josephine recognize most of them—The Iron Bull was working over the grill while Dorian looked on adoringly; a red-haired and blue-tattooed Dwarven woman was hanging off the Warden Blackwall’s arm sitting poolside and chatting animatedly with Sera and her girlfriend Dagna who were in the pool; over in the corner, Varric was sitting amidst a group of people, likely telling them one of his ridiculous stories with his arm slung over Cole’s (one of the only fully dressed people present) shoulder. Cassandra walked over the gate and grinned at them, her hand going to rest on her sarong-ed hip. “Did you find it alright?”

Leliana grinned and hugged her. “Of course.”

Josephine scanned the crowd. “It looks like a good turnout.”

Cassandra nodded, clasping Cullen’s hand in a firm shake. “Yes. I hadn’t realized Asena had invited so many people, but everyone seems to be having a good time.”

“Who is this Asena? I’ve yet to meet her,” Josephine asked, curiosity filling her voice.

“Oh, you’ll love her.” Cassandra gave her a knowing smirk before it turned into a grin as she looked past them. “In fact, here she comes now!”

“Sorry, there was a huge line at the store and—Oh!” The trio turned to meet their hostess, and Josephine’s breath caught in her throat. “Cassandra, are these the friends you were talking about?”

“Yes, indeed. Guys, allow me to introduce Asena Adaar.”

The Qunari that stood before them was, as most Qunari are, incredibly tall. She was standing with her hip cocked, a large bag of charcoal balanced on it, an… an entire half-barrel keg set at her feet. Josephine raised an eyebrow at that. How in the world did she carry that all in one go? Her hips were wide in comparison to the rest of her body, a pair of light pink harem pants hanging _quite_ low on those hips, giving her a _good _view of sturdy hip bones. Her skin was light for a Qunari, similar in shade to The Iron Bull’s, but smoother, pulled tight over strong, prominent muscles. She wore no shirt, only a black, strapless bikini top that made Josephine swallow hard.

Asena must’ve noticed Josephine checking her out because she smirked, an eyebrow cocked at her, and Maker’s breath she was pretty. She had a strong, slightly crooked nose that sat between proud, lightly freckled cheekbones. Her lips were thick and painted a cool purple that helped her shockingly bright, teal eyes stand out. Her horns were smaller than the Bull’s, curved delicately up and behind her forehead, shined smooth halfway to the tips, and between them rained a mess of beautifully curled black locks.

“Asena, may I present—”

“Nono, let me guess.” She cut Cassandra off with a cocky smile. “Obviously this is Cullen Rutherford.” They shook hands, Cullen replying with some sort of greeting that Josephine couldn’t hear. “And Leliana Nightingale,” another handshake, then she turned to Josephine. “And this,” she said, practically purring, “must be the _lovely_ Josephine Montilyet.” As Josephine put her hand in hers, she blushed when Asena leaned down, pressing a warm kiss to the back of her knuckles. Asena smirked up at her and whispered a cool and fluent, “Encantada, hermosa Josefina,” against her skin.

“Hey, Boss, did you get the charcoal or what?”

Asena straightened up (_so_ tall) at The Bull’s interruption and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, hold your horns.” She smiled at the four of them, stopping her gaze on Josephine. “Please, excuse me.”

“Do you need any help with that?” Cullen gestured towards the keg sitting at Asena’s feet.

The Qunari grinned and shook her head. “No thanks. I’ve got it.” In one fluid movement, she hefted the charcoal up on her shoulder and raised the keg to rest on her other hip as if it weighed nothing at all. Josephine couldn’t help but stare at her muscles as she squeezed past them and meandered over to the other Qunari who was waiting impatiently by the grill.

When she turned back to her friends, Leliana and Cullen were giving her deviously sly grins. “I… What?” She could feel the blush rising among her cheeks. They chuckled and moved past her to join the party, Cassandra following close by. “I—guys! Wait!”

As promised, the party was a blast. Within an hour, more people had joined, including Bull’s entire crew and a few other people Asena seemed to know, including a white-haired blind woman who was nearly as buff as Asena and who was apparently the blind woman’s girlfriend, a slender, tan-skinned woman with a lip piercing and a heavy Rivaini accent. Conversation and laughter flowed from every direction, backed by a constant flow of pleasant music. Though Josephine is a natural conversationalist, she didn’t stray far from Leliana’s side. Leliana’s offered safety proffered Josephine the opportunity to watch their hostess flit about from person to person. Everyone was greeted in the familiar, ranging from a warm handshake to an almost painful-looking hug, but Josephine noticed hers was the only hand that Asena kissed. Indeed, aside from a sisterly smooch to Blackwall’s and his girlfriend’s cheeks, Asena’s lips touched nobody else. Though she didn’t know why, this revelation filled Josephine with a deep sense of giddiness, as though butterflies had taken flight along her skin.

“My word. Is that Leliana?”

Josephine raised a brow as the Rivaini woman snaked her way through the throng of people, her girlfriend in tow, and came to a firm stop in front of the both of them. She looked over at Leliana who was regarding the woman for a long moment before she gasped. “Isabela?”

The woman—Isabela—beamed brilliantly at them and swooped in to hug Leliana. “I knew that was you!”

Leliana blushed. “I had heard you and Hawke were together, but I guess I didn’t realize. You’ve certainly changed, Bela.” Josephine nudged Leliana and gave her a Look. “Oh, Josie, this is Isabela and Genevieve, friends of mine from ages ago.” 

“Nev,” supplied Nev with an outstretched hand which Josephine took.

Isabela pulled Genevieve’s hip into hers and grinned cheekily. “Yes, we know Leliana _quite _well. Perhaps we could _know _you, too…?”

“Bela, Nev, you’re not harassing my guests, are you? Not everyone is interested in sharing your bed.”

Josephine blushed furiously at Asena’s entrance, even more so at the fact that Asena stood almost touching her, her arm stretched behind her to balance her weight against the railing. Nev chuckled while Isabela _tsk_ed. “Well one can never know until one tries, eh?”

Nev pushed gently at Isabela’s shoulder, turning to leave. “C’mon, I heard Cullen prattling on around here somewhere. I wanna annoy him.”

Leliana’s studious gaze flicked from Josephine to Asena two or three times before she gave a flashy smile. “I’ll help you look for him,” she called to the other two women.

Josephine’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest, but Leliana was gone as quickly as Asena had appeared, chasing after her friends. Asena sucked her teeth and shook her head after her friends. “That lot is trouble.” Turning to look down at Josephine, she put on a brilliant smile. “Are you enjoying yourself, Lady Montilyet?”

Josephine self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded. “Yes, quite. This is quite the party.”

Asena smirked, her eyes scanning across Josephine’s face. “I’m afraid I can’t take all the credit. Bull’s boys are quite the lively bunch.”

_Maker, is she getting closer? _Josephine cleared her throat and took a sip of her drink. “You, uh… You seem to know all these people.”

Chuckling, Asena straightened back up and looked out at the crowd. “Mm, I do for the most part. Anyone I didn’t know before tonight were either guests of Cassandra or Gemma.”

“Gemma?”

“My roommate.” She pointed out the tattooed woman just in time for Josephine to watch as Blackwall was tackled into the pool. Laughing, she watched the two of them come back up for air, and Gemma squealed as Blackwall pulled her in for a vengeful kiss. “She’s pretty cute.”

Josephine cocked her head, looking back and forth from the Dwarf to the Qunari. “How did you two meet?”

For just the briefest of moments, a shadow flicked over Asena’s face, but she quickly hid it with a cool smile. “We go way back.”

Nodding, Josephine turned her attention back to the crowd. “I understand.”

The music shifted to a new song, something in Qunlat that Josephine couldn’t understand, but it had a good beat. Asena spun to stand in front of Josephine and bowed dramatically, her hand outstretched. “May I have this dance, Lady Montilyet?”

At her dashing grin, Josephine blushed and slipped her hand into Asena’s. “You may.”

Asena grinned and swept her out towards the area that had been unofficially designated as a dance floor.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Asena and Josephine danced for what felt like minutes but must have been well over an hour by the time they sat down, breathless and giddy. From there, they talked for ages, and wine and beer flowed between them until they were both giggly and stumbling about the place. People came to talk to the both of them, faces blurring one into another as the drinks flow.

Suddenly, it was daylight. Josephine’s head pounded in protestation of her poor decisions last night, and she groaned. “Oh, Maker,” she grumbled.

“Buenas dias, hermosa Josefina.”

She… She knew that voice. But from where? She couldn’t… Prying her eyes open, she looked around, struggling to focus. “W… Where?”

A face came into view, dazzlingly beautiful and smiling warmly, a cascade of curls falling off a light blue shoulder. “My apartment.” A glass of water was sat on a table near Josephine’s face.

Blinking, Josephine tried to focus on the face, on the strong nose and the proud lips and the freckles and the eyes—“Asena?”

Asena chuckled and nodded, disappearing from view. “Eggs?”

“I…”

At her roaring stomach, Asena chuckled again. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Josephine pulled herself to sit up, assessing the damage. A hoodie some five sizes too big with a wide-cut collar had been placed on her, but underneath her clothes were still on and in-tact, though her sandals had been carefully sat on the floor. She had been sleeping on a couch in a well-decorated apartment, not far from a sliding glass door that lead out near the pool. “I… slept over?”

“Yeah. Cullen did, too. He’s in on Gemma’s couch, through that door over there. Leliana left with Nev and Isabela.” Asena came over to sit in a chair across from her, setting a plate of eggs down in front of her.

“And the uh… hoodie?” She cast a glance up at her host and took a sip of the water.

Asena smiled gently, leaning back in her chair. “I didn’t want you to freeze.”

Josephine blushed and ducked her head to take another drink. “Mm. Thank you. That was very thoughtful.”

Asena waved her hand. “It looks better on you anyways.”

Josephine blushed and… _Was that a smirk? _Boldness took her, then, and with a smirk of her own, Josephine settled back into the couch and tucked her legs up underneath her. “I shall have to keep it, then.”

Asena’s smirk grew into a full-blown toothy grin. She adjusted herself so that her arm hung off the back of the chair and her impossibly long legs stretched out in front of her. “It would be a great disappointment if you didn’t, Lady Montilyet.”

Josephine giggled and started eating. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes until a phone began ringing. Asena cursed in Qunlat and cast her an apologetic glance, pulling out her phone. Josephine waved her off, and Asena disappeared into a different room to answer it. Josephine finished her eggs and water then took them to the sink to clean them, humming softly. The hoodie hung down to her knees, and the widened collar encouraged it to hang off her shoulder demurely. _‘I didn’t want you to freeze.’ _She blushed anew and grinned to herself.

As she washed the dish, the other door off to her right opened and Blackwall stumbled out, wearing naught but a pair of pajama pants. Upon seeing her, he froze and blushed deeply. “I… er… Lady Montilyet. Fancy meeting you here.”

She quirked a brow at him. “Indeed.”

He cleared his throat. “You, uh, slept over then?”

“Indeed.”

Nodding, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “F-fancy that.” Moving quickly, he scooted over the cupboard and snagged a pack of Poptarts. “Well, be seeing you,” he stammered before scurrying back to the room.

Josephine chuckled and shook her head. His crush on her never ceased to entertain, even if he was a taken man now. Just as she finished the dishes, Asena’s door opened, and she walked out, wearing a breathtaking suit, fresh makeup, and a sullen expression. “Hermosa Josefina, I must profusely apologize. I have business to attend to. You’re welcome to stay here, or I could take you home if you needed?” She looked wretched about it, and that made Josephine’s heart swell.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose. I can call a taxi.”

Asena frowned. “Nonsense. It would be my pleasure.”

She considered it a moment, regarding her carefully. With a nod, she smiled gently. “Very well then.”

She moved to take the hoodie off, but she was stopped by a gently hand on her arm. Looking up into Asena’s smiling face, she blushed. “I said you could keep it,” she purred, her eyes taking in the hang of the garment.

Josephine’s blush deepened, and she nodded. “A-Alright.”

Asena practically beamed and gestured towards the door. They paused so Josephine could put her sandals back on, and then they left. Asena’s car was strangely nice for a college student, and a convertible to boot. _Probably for the horns, _Josephine thought. She drove with a careful recklessness, obeying speed limits and the likes but taking turns a little too fast, and in a way it was thrilling. Once they arrived at Josephine’s house, Asena hopped out and rushed quickly around to open the door for her, smiling warmly at her. She escorted Josephine to the door and paused just outside it, looking as though she wanted to say something but couldn’t. Josephine tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. “Thank you for a lovely evening,” she whispered.

Asena regarded her carefully, eyes scanning hers, taking in her expression. She nodded slightly and reached out to brush her hand along Josephine’s arm, linking their pinkies together when she reached her hand. “I… had a good time. I’d like… I’d like to see you again, if that’s alright.”

Josephine’s stomach burst into butterflies and her heart pounded in her ears for something other than her hangover. Nodding earnestly, she stepped closer, a broad grin stretched across her face. “I would very much like that.”

Asena grinned toothily. “Brilliant.” She pulled Josephine’s hand to her lips as she had when they met and pressed another warm kiss to her knuckles. “Until later, hermosa Josefina.”

Josephine watched her practically skip back to her car. They shared another grin and waved to one another before Asena hopped into her car and took off. With a dopy smile and lightness to her step that defied the heaviness of her hangover, Josephine backed into the house and sighed dreamily. Once she turned around, she blushed to see Leliana standing against the railing in her underwear, a bowl of cereal in her hands. She regarded Josephine carefully then pointed her spoon at her. “Where’d you get the hoodie?”

Clearing her throat, Josephine tilted her chin up. “Asena didn’t want me to freeze.”

At Leliana’s devious grin, Josephine rolled her eyes and scooted past her to retreat to her room. It wasn’t until she turned to shut the door that she noticed the Rivaini woman and the white haired woman sprawled across the couch, _very _nude, and she scoffed. “I thought we said no more orgies in the living room, Leliana!”

Leliana’s laughter drifted through the wood of the door as Josephine shut it, and she rolled her eyes. The memory of Asena’s lips upon her hand was too sweet, too lovely in her mind for her to work up any real anger, and she collapsed in a heap into her bed, sighing contentedly. When she opened her phone, she was surprised to see a message from an unknown number, and when she opened it she grinned.

_I had a lovely night with you, hermosa Josefina. -Asena_.

“Oh, Maker. This woman will be the death of me,” she giggled.


	2. Fictober Day 6: Husky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fictober Day 6's prompt fill. Josephine and Asena move in together

The soft chatter scattered about the restaurant seemed so far away from their table, tucked into the corner against the window. In the dim lighting aided by two softly lit candles upon the table, Josephine gaped at her lover. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Asena chuckled softly at Josephine’s floundering. “I _asked _you to move in with me.”

Josephine stared across the table at her, jaw slack, mind racing. “I-I couldn’t!”

Quirking a brow at her, Asena sipped her wine. “Oh? And why ever not?”

“We’ve only known each other for six months!”

Asena rolled over the protestation in her mind, and Josephine could see the way the ring in the center of her lower lip was beginning to roll as it often did when its wearer was thinking. “It… I suppose it is fast,” she admitted at last. “I can understand if you’d say no on that basis, but I do wish you’d take some time to consider it if that’s your only reservation. I feel good about this, Josephine. About you. Us.”

Thankfully for the dim lighting in the restaurant, Asena couldn’t possibly see the darkening of Josephine’s cheeks. If she were honest with herself, she’d know that the novelty of their relationship was not truly the problem. She was floundering, scrambling to find something, anything to tell her not to do this. Impetuousness was not something that came easily to Josephine Montilyet, after all. “Well…” Mierda. She hadn’t thought this far ahead. “I… I have a lease! With my apartment! I can’t just break it.”

“Sure you can.” She seemed almost _delighted_ at how easy these rejections were to beat down, the smug bastard.

“Well, it would be disadvantageous to do so. After all, it’s a $400 fine to break the contract in addition to a full month’s rent. And what about Cullen and Leliana? They cannot afford to pay for the house on their own.”

Asena chuckled, leaning back in her chair to observe her. “You know I’m happy to help you, Josie. And Cullen and Leliana can find another roommate. Maker knows they have enough friends. Until they do, I’m happy paying any deficit they have. And my new apartment is just oh so lonely without a roommate,” she pouted playfully.

Josephine stared at her for a long moment. “You’ve really… thought about this, haven’t you?”

“Hermosa Josefina,” she purred, sitting forward, her voice lowered to a husky dulcet. “I do nothing without first thinking it through.”

“But… We hardly know anything about each other. We’ve only been dating six months…”

Asena’s gaze softened, and she sat back again, a warm smile against her lips though her eyes betrayed her soft sadness. “You don’t have to, of course. I won’t be offended. It _is _kind of fast.”

Josephine swallowed hard and stared down at her steak, thoughts flying a million miles per hour through her head. As the minutes passed and Asena took up her own fork again, Josephine came to a conclusion at long last. “Alright.”

Asena’s hand paused over her salad, a brow raising at her. “Pardon?”

Tilting a shy smile up at her lover, Josephine reached across and gently slipped her hand over Asena’s. “I would like to move in with you.”

Slow comprehension spread easily across Asena’s face, quickly replaced with a brilliant grin. “You’re sure?”

Nodding, Josephine squeezed her hand then withdrew to sip at her own wine. “Mm. I… I find that I care about you deeply, my Lady Adaar. I think it could be… good.”

“Brilliant!” Asena clapped her hands together lightly, eyes alight in the candlelight. “We can do it as soon as you’d like. I don’t want to rush you, after all.”

Josephine giggled and nodded. “You’ll have to help me pack, of course.”

Rolling her eyes, Asena caught the eye of the server and politely raised her hand. “Of course, mi hermosa Josefina. I’d be only too delighted to do your… heavy lifting.” Her voice dropped with the last two words, bringing a blush to Josephine’s cheeks that made Asena chuckle.

The server brought over their check and clasped her hands in front of her waist. “Can I get you anything else, Lady Adaar?”

“Josie? Some desert, maybe?”

Josephine shook her head, supplying a polite smile to the server. “Not for me, thank you.”

“Then none for me, either.” Asena nodded, passing the bill and a credit card back to the woman, shooting her a smile of her own. “Thank you.”

“I trust this new apartment of yours isn’t the stuff of college student nightmares?”

“Josie, you wound me. In all the time you’ve known me, have you ever thought my taste less than exquisite?”

“Well, there was that shirt you wore the other day, the one with the stripes.”

Asena gasped dramatically, putting a hand to her chest in mock offense. “How… _dare _you!” she teased. “My grandmother knitted that shirt for me on her death bed!”

Josephine chuckled, sipping at her wine. “And was your grandmother blind when she died?”

“That’s beside the point,” Asena laughed. “But, no, mi amor, I promise you. There’s no holes in the floor, no splinters in the hand rails, no roaches scuttling about, nothing like that. You’ll be pleasantly surprised, I think.”

“I certainly hope so.”

Xxx

_‘Pleasantly surprised.’ _That didn’t even begin to cut it. Josephine gaped, turning slowly about in Asena’s foyer. She’d said “apartment” and Josephine thought of some small, one-bedroom hole in the wall with no elevator. Not… this.

“Asena… how—”

“I got a good deal on it. My boss does a lot of work for the owner of this building. They’re good friends, and when I said I wanted to move, they hooked me up.” She beamed at Josephine as she passed by her, carrying two of her heavier boxes with ease. “D’you like it?”

“I…” Clearing her throat, she stepped further into the large space to explore.

It was a penthouse, and say what one will, affording a penthouse in Val Royeaux, let alone one _downtown _as this one is… She’d only heard of the royal family and their courtiers owning any. The apartment itself was completely open, lined with floor to ceiling panoramic windows that went all the way around. A half-wall of exposed brick separated the huge, state-of-the-art kitchen from the living room which was built down a step and featured one of the biggest televisions Josephine had ever seen in person. Across the way, the bed sat on a raised step, separated from the rest of the apartment by Rivain-inspired screens depicting the ocean in a storm, and a rather large section of the corner was walled off, presumably for the bathroom. A balcony lined the entire outside, and all around the railing grew a vine which sported vibrant pink flowers.

“Asena, I…” Josephine comes from nobility. Though her family may not have been particularly wealthy in terms of enterprise, they still were one of the wealthiest families in Antiva City. It is a rare occurrence that Josephine should feel humbled. But this? “I’m speechless. Even with a discount, Asena, how can we afford this?”

“Not we, mi amor. I. I don’t expect or want you to pay for a single thing, ok?” She flashed her a brilliant smile as she slipped back to the open elevator packed to the brim with boxes. “I told you, my job pays really well.”

“Yes, but you’ve yet to tell me what that job _is_.” The mystery was beginning to wear thing. At first, Josephine thought that perhaps it was something embarrassing or personal, like some sort of sex work. On many occasions, Asena has had phone calls that required her to slip off somewhere private, and often when she returned, she had to leave immediately, sometimes changing into different clothes along the way. But unless she was the personal courtesan of Celene herself, there was no way Asena could afford this on an escort’s pay. No, now Josephine was beginning to grow wary. Drugs, perhaps? She’d heard of some back-alley lyrium dealers hitting it big.

Asena set the boxes down and smiled reassuringly at her. “I told you, mi amor. I’m a freelance contractor whose work requires her to sign frequent NDAs.”

Josephine raised a brow at her, took in her calm smile, the warmth in her expression, and sighed. Was she buying it? No, not entirely. Could she talk herself into buying it? Yes. For now. “Well, I don’t envy the person paying your checks,” she joked. “Or…” Looking around again, she giggled. “Perhaps I do.”

Asena came to stand beside her, an arm resting along her shoulders. “We can do whatever you want to it. Repaint, redecorate, rearrange, anything. Together.”

Josephine looked up at her impossibly tall lover and smiled, her arm snaking about her waist. “Together.”


	3. Fictober Day 7: Enchanted, feat Josephine and Asena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The House of Repose pays a visit on Josephine, and she can no longer delude herself.

Peace. Love. Bliss. Pure and utter luxury. For 16 months, that’s how Josephine and Asena lived up there in their penthouse. Every morning, Asena would rise with the dawn, and Josephine would be greeted with either the smell of cooking or a warm kiss upon her forehead before Asena slipped off to her mysterious work. Complacency had taken hold in Josephine. No longer did she wonder about it, did she want to know for fear of destroying this Elysian peace. And if truth be told, she greatly enjoyed being spoiled as she had been. Asena had been truthful when she said she didn’t want Josephine to pay for anything. This meant Josie was able to quit her detestable job and focus her time and efforts on her family business and rebuilding her family’s trading empire. To say that it was slow-going would be an understatement. If she were back home in Antiva City, perhaps it might’ve been coming along faster, but as it were it felt like a snail’s pace. 

But even a snail gets noticed every now and then.

Asena was working late that night. Josephine used the opportunity to get some more work done and had been sitting with her back to the door, her nose buried in trade manifestos and receipts. So lost was she in her papers that she didn’t hear the elevator arrive over the sound of the fireplace, didn’t hear the soft creaking of the floorboard just beyond the entryway. When the lights shut off, Josephine merely sighed. It wasn’t until she realized that it wasn’t storming outside that she realized something was wrong. Standing slowly, she set her papers down and turned to look about, but the fireplace did very little to light the depths of the apartment.

“You’ve been quite busy, Lady Montilyet.” The light in the kitchen flicked on, drawing her attention to the masked Orlesian who was busy examining a bottle of wine.

“Who are you? How did you get in?” Subtlety, she felt around her pockets for her phone, panic welling within her despite her best efforts to stay calm. It wasn’t until she spotted it lying on the kitchen island beside her long-forgotten tea that the panic turned into full blown fear.

The intruder followed her gaze to her phone and _tsk_ed. “Do not concern yourself, Lady Montilyet.” He popped the cork on the wine and poured out two glasses. “I am not here to hurt you.” Then, looking up at her, her added as if thoughtfully, “Tonight.”

“W…What is it you want?”

He picked up the wine and walked slowly towards her, staring down at the glasses as if in contemplation. “I work for… an organization. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. We go by the name of the House of Repose.”

Cold clamminess was beginning to creep up her spine. “I… Yes. I know of them.” 

“Excellent. I do so hate having to explain.” He paused on the other side of the couch and held the second glass out to her. Hesitantly, she took it. “You see, Lady Montilyet, we find ourselves in a most precarious situation. When you began your efforts to restart your family’s business these months past, my employers caught wind of it. And… Well, this is embarrassing.” He sipped at the wine and offered her an almost shy smile. “It turns out that your efforts have brought a century-old contract to our attention, one that dictates… Well. The Montilyet trading empire may not persevere.”

“And the House of Repose always upholds their contracts… Yes. I… I understand.”

“I’m so glad you see it our way. We felt, given the strangeness of these circumstances, that an explanation was owed to you. And so, I am here.”

She stared down at the glass in her hand, swallowing hard. “This… contract. May I ask who ordered it?”

“Ah, yes. A Lord Du Paraquette.”

Yes. The name rang a bell, some familial drama a hundred years ago resulting in the loss of the Du Paraquette’s status. “I… Thank you. I suppose.”

“Oh my gods, you wouldn’t believe the traff—Josie?” Asena stood in the doorway, taking in the scene at hand.

“Ah, yes. Lady Adaar. Enchanted.” The Orlesian turned towards his host and tipped his head in greeting. “I do so wish I could stay and chat, but I’m afraid I really must be leaving.” Then, with a tip of his head to Josephine, “It was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Montilyet. I do so wish it had been under different circumstances.”

As he passed by Asena, she straightened up and watched him go, scowling as she did. As soon as the door was shut, she rushed over to Josephine and looked her over, worry written across her face. “Are you ok? Who was that? What happened? Did he hurt you?”

Josephine swallowed hard and took a deep breath to quell her hammering heart. “I… I’m fine. For now, at any rate.”

Asena’s hands came to cup Josephine’s cheeks, tilting her head up to look her in the eye. “Tell me everything.”

They sat together on the couch, Asena’s arm protectively around Josephine’s shoulders, and she listened patiently as Josephine talked her through what had happened. By the time she finished, the hand that had been gently stroking her shoulder had stilled, and Asena had stiffened. The silence hung between them for the longest time before Asena abruptly stood and grabbed her coat. Baffled, Josephine watched, mouth agape. “What are you doing?”

Asena stilled for a moment, coat half on, then shook her head once. “I’m going to fix it.”

A coldness gripped Josephine, a very different fear from what she had felt with the messenger. “What… what does that mean?” Her response was silence as Asena went around to the doors leading out to the balcony and checked they were all locked. Josephine stood from the couch and clenched her fists a few times, trying to ease out her worry. “Asena, what does that mean?”

Her lover crossed the room to her and took her in her arms, squeezing her almost painfully tight. She felt Asena kiss the top of her head before she slipped past to go towards the door. “I have to talk to my boss. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Call the elevator back once I’m gone and pull the emergency brake on it. I’ll call when I get back.”

“Asena… Mi amor, please don’t go…”

Asena’s hand paused over the button, and for a moment, Josephine thought she might change her mind, mind come back to her. Her hope was short lived. She didn’t even turn to wave goodbye before the heavy doors slid shut and the arrow indicated her descent. And Josephine was alone. Suddenly, the large, wide-open expanse of the apartment was unbearably frightening.

Josephine moved her work to bed and tucked herself into the corner, and until dawn came, every bump and whistle of the wind had her tensing up.

With the rising of the sun and the way the apartment flooded with warm light, Josephine was finally able to calm down long enough to get some sleep, light though it was. She awoke late in the day, nearer evening than noon. No notifications lit up her phone aside from some business-related emails, but she had neither the heart nor the inclination to do anything about them. Asena should’ve called by now or at least texted. And all the fear that had filled Josephine’s heart every time Asena left to go to “work” for these past 16 months cumulated into one roiling ball of jittery fear and guilt.

She was unable to do much of anything that night other than worry. TV filled the silence, but her mind could focus on nothing except Asena, not even upon her work. The clock ticked by painfully slowly, mocking her and her predicament. Minutes passed in the span of hours, the night stretching on endlessly like some absurd kind of nightmare.

It was nearly dawn of the next day when her phone rang, and like a starving woman, she lunged for it as if it were a buffet of her favorite foods. She had barely registered the contact picture as Asena’s (a selfie of the two of them standing against the view from the balcony, Josephine kissing Asena’s cheek,) when she answered, “Mi amor?”

She sounded pained, winded, but it was her. “Send… Send the elevator down…” 

Josephine sprinted to the elevator and did as she was told. “Asena, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” But the line was dead. So, Josephine stared impatiently at the elevator doors, fidgeting like no tomorrow.

The elevator came to a halt. As the doors opened, Josephine waited impatiently for Asena to step out and scoop her up in her arms like usual, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Gemma, Asena’s former roommate, looked up at her from underneath the full weight of Asena, obviously struggling. “G-Get a first aid kit!” Josephine, unable to fully comprehend the order through the shock of seeing Asena so badly wounded, just stood there and watched as Gemma fought to get Asena over to the couch, nearly dropping her several times in the process. “Dammit, Josephine, the first aid kit!”

The sharp order cut through Josephine’s shock and spurred her into action. Sliding to her knees beside Gemma, kit in hand, she passed it to her and looked over Asena’s wounds. “Wh… What happened?”

Gemma grumbled, pulling out what she needed from the kit and promptly tossing it behind her. “Job went south.”

“Job?”

Gemma gave her a pointed look. Well. That was it then. Josephine could no longer pretend that her girlfriend was just some well-paid architect or something. She watched as Gemma worked to stitch up the numerous wounds Asena carried, some cuts from blades, but a few gunshot wounds, too. And as strange as it was, while Josephine held Asena’s hand, the thought that her blood would stain the couch was the only thing that filled her mind. It was a rather large couch, after all. Reupholstering it would cost a small fortune, after all.

Gemma finished her task surprisingly quickly, her hands far too practiced for comfort. It occurred to Josephine that she’d never considered any of Asena’s friends would also be her… coworkers. But as she observed the dwarf, she realized with a start how obvious it was. Though Gemma was not as wealthy as Asena, she still had rather a suspicious amount of fine objects for her work as a “pharmacist.” And rather a suspicious amount of scars for it, too. And what of The Iron Bull? Frequently, he referred to Asena as “boss” though as far as Asena knew, the two were unaffiliated outside of friendship, though Maker knows he has his share of scars (even some missing fingers.) For a moment, she considered asking, confirming her fears, but decided against it. Not Gemma. She would hear it from Asena or from no one.

With a heavy sigh, Gemma started cleaning up. With a quick gesture towards the bathroom, she mumbled something about going to wash her hands that Josephine was too out of it to properly hear. She was going through a list of their friends in her mind, trying to pinpoint how many of them had given her reason for concern when the hand between hers intertwined their fingers. She squeaked, looking down into the teal eyes of her lover. “W… Oh. You’re awake,” she breathed, relief flooding through her.

Asena gave her a weak but cheeky grin. “Mi hermosa Josefina, how concerned you look.” At Josephine’s deadpan expression, she frowned. “You’re upset.”

“Upset? Up_set_? No, no, not me, not upset, no.” Scoffing, Josephine shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. No. Not now. Asena was far too weak for fighting. “You’re _very _late for dinner,” she grumbled.

Asena let out a breath of a laugh and brushed her thumb against Asena’s knuckles. “I’m sorry, mi amor. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Oh? And how might you do that?” Maker, was she really flirting right now? Even with all that just happened?

Asena let her hand slip from Josephine’s, and carefully felt about in her pockets. With a soft, “Aha,” she pulled out a bundle of bloodied papers and held it out to Josephine who took it with no small degree of disgust.

As Josephine scanned the document, her eyebrows shot up and mouth fell slack. “How did you—”

Asena practically beamed at her. “I fixed it.”

Josephine stared at her lover then noticed something that brought a wave of nausea to her, had her pushing to her feet and darting for the kitchen sink.

The pocket Asena had pulled the papers from was untouched by blood. 


	4. Fictober Day 8: Frail, feat Josephine and Asena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josephine leaves.

Gemma stayed just long enough to be sure that Asena was going to be fine. She said nothing else to Josephine about what happened, nor indeed much of anything except to leave instructions for treating the wounds before she left. Asena did not try to ask if she was alright. It was written clear enough upon her face and the way her hands shook and she kept her distance. Rather than insult her and try to explain it away, Asena resolved herself to silence, and within half an hour had dozed off to sleep, leaving Josephine alone with her thoughts.

She found she couldn’t stop staring at Asena’s hands. The hands that had on so many occasions caressed her, stroked her, brushed her, brought her to peaks hither-to-before rarely explored to such glorious fruition with another. What else were those hands doing? On those long nights at work, who else were they touching? And how? The blind eye Josephine had turned proved to be much stronger than she intended, because the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she’d purposefully ignored the bruises, the cuts and scrapes and the bloodied knuckles. Worse still, the handful of times The Iron Bull came to their apartment, he was usually sporting more serious wounds himself. And the realizations snowballed from there, until the woman lying upon the sofa no longer resembled the suave, soft, gentle giant who was capable of bringing her to her knees with a single look. Frail though she was at this moment, as Josephine stared at her lover, she found she no longer recognized the face that slumbered away. Not the proud nose, the full lips, the sharp cheekbones, the neat eyebrows. None of it. The mask of gentle beauty had slipped away, and the woman underneath it scared her.

“Who _are _you?” she found herself whispering.

But still Asena slumbered on, and the nausea and pin-prickling discomfort growing with Josephine became too much to handle. Still, she sat there for a good hour, struggling to come to terms with this new reality, with having the veil forcibly thrust open upon the status of her life, but ultimately, she caved. Decisively, she jumped from the chair and busied herself with packing a bag, her hands trembling as they stuffed it with anything and everything she could think of—clothes, toothbrush, shoes she wasn’t entirely sure matched, her favorite doll. Her hands paused over the framed picture on the night stand, the one Asena had asked a passerby to take of them when they’d traveled to the beach for a week. They looked so happy together, Asena’s arm dangling proudly across her shoulders and a brilliant, proud grin stretched across her sunglassed face, both of Josephine’s arms wrapped about Asena’s bare midriff, her face frozen in a laugh. The picture called to her, begged to be taken with her, but the pain, the pure longing for those days was too strong to ignore.

With a glance towards the couch, Josephine hefted her bag upon her shoulder and stepped into the elevator. And as she looked up just before the doors slid shut, her eyes met Asena’s from the couch, watching her go with heavy, unshed tears.

Xxx

The doors slid shut, and Asena was alone, truly alone for the first time in ages, and that loneliness echoed all around the room in a cacophony of mocking. Asena Adaar is a strong woman, prided herself on her ability to press down any negative emotions and never _ever _cry. But seeing Josephine leave, seeing the pure fear in her eyes when they locked across the room, that brought her to her fucking _knees_. If she weren’t a good smack from having one foot in the grave, she might’ve gotten up, stormed around, destroyed the apartment, screamed with her agony. Instead, she stared unblinking at the elevator for some time until the tears spilled over, and she laid herself back down on the couch and wept silently until she dozed into sleep once more.

In hindsight, she shouldn’t have been surprised. Josephine always suspected. They both knew that. But denial is a powerful motivator, can drive a person to think the sky is pink. Josephine never asked. She knew that if she did, Asena would be forced to lie, and a lie of omission is better than a bold-faced lie. She wasn’t even sure she could lie to Josephine like that, not really. Giving her the whole spiel about high level contracts she isn’t allowed to talk about was technically not a lie. It wasn’t the entire truth, but not a lie. Her organization does take high-end contracts, and if Asena had told her about it, it would’ve put Josephine in danger and so she would not allow herself to do that.

Sitting alone in her bigass apartment, looking around at all the pictures, all the personal touches, Asena had to wonder if perhaps she should’ve just been honest. Wouldn’t losing Josephine early on have been better than losing her now, after 16 months together?

Her first instinct was to say, “Yes. Of course it would’ve.” But the more she looked around, the more memories that popped into her mind, she knew that it was a lie. Meeting Josephine Montilyet had undoubtedly been the best thing to have ever happened to Asena Adaar.

And she’d let her walk out the fucking door.

Xxx

Days came and went with no communication, not even so much as a “Hi.” Every morning Asena awoke and eagerly opened her phone, only to have the same familiar wave of crushing defeat roll over her when the only notifications she had were from coworkers and her boss. Josephine needed her space. She needed to have the chance to come to terms with what had happened, with the truth of it all. But Maker, Asena was not a patient woman.

Days turned into weeks with still no word. The silence was beginning to wear on her, though she tried not to obsess. Her bosses insisted she return to work despite her unhealed injuries. She wanted to tell them no, to tell them to go fuck themselves on their horns, but she was now in debt to them. Asking for help with the House of Repose had cost her more dearly than she would ever let Josephine know. Thankfully, Asena had many friends within her organization, friends who have proven their loyalty to her many times before, friends to whom she can go and ask for help, for protection for Josephine. The contract may no longer have been in the House of Repose, but that didn’t necessarily mean Josephine was completely safe.

By the fourth week, the idea that Josephine might never come back had begun to plague Asena’s thoughts. It filled her with an ache worse than her mending injuries, an emptiness echoed by the apartment. It was time to move, she decided. Even if Josephine were to come back, this place would forever be tainted for them. For the time being, Asena moved into The Iron Bull’s building. It was an old fire station done up rather like a college dorm, with separate sleeping quarters but shared living spaces. The Chargers lived there with him which meant that it was crowded and cramped. Precisely what Asena needed.

The Iron Bull, Krem, Gemma, and Blackwall came to help Asena move. Her wounds were healing nicely, almost needing no more bandages, but heavy lifting was still off the table. She’d gone around the apartment beforehand, loading stuff into boxes, and very quickly she’d realized how much of it was Josephine’s. Packing Josie’s things hurt, hurt far worse than she’d expected it to. It was just stuff, after all. Wasn’t it? 

She divvied up the stuff they shared in Josephine’s favor. The books, the movies, the pictures, most of it would go to her. Asena kept all but two of the photos for herself, the one of them at the beach, and one of just Josephine, standing beneath the Wintermarch lights, looking up at them in wonder as they illuminated her large eyes and colored her soft skin. This one, she removed from the frame and tucked into her wallet, to be kept on her person at all times, she decided. 

Bull helped her load Josephine’s things into her car and went with her to deliver them. “So what’s the plan, Boss?” 

“Plan?” she said, glancing over at him as she drove. 

“For droppin’ the stuff off. You gonna talk to her or what?” 

...Oh. She... She hadn’t thought that far ahead. What would she do? Could she handle speaking with her? Would she turn her away? Could she handle that rejection? “I... I don’t know,” she admitted weakly. 

Bull regarded her for a long moment. Asena could practically feel the wheels turning in his head as he analyzed her body language. Likely, he could tell exactly what she was thinking, could see the dozens of questions rolling across her face. Bull was freaky good at shit like that. Then, gently and carefully, he reached over and put his hand upon her shoulder. “I got your back, Boss. You know that.” 

She smiled weakly at him and patted his hand. “Mm. I do. Thank you, Bull. You’ve always been such a good friend to me.” She need only feel the missing fingers beneath her hand to know how true that was. Though she’d known Gemma longest out of all her friends, The Iron Bull was Asena’s closest friend in the whole world. To think of how they started that friendship made her laugh. From day one, neither of them trusted the other. They’d protested working together, begged their boss to give them a different partner for that job (truthfully, Asena had quite forgotten what that job had even been by now.) All through planning the job to getting to the goddamn location, all they’d done was bicker. One insisted Plan A was better, the other told them to go fuck a duck. The job went... not well. But The Iron Bull had saved Asena’s life, tackled her out of the path of a fireball she’d not noticed coming. The fire had caught the edge of his hand, burnt his fingers so badly that the nerves would never regenerate so he’d had them amputate them. (”Eh, never liked those ones much anyway,” he’d said.) And, well, Asena never needed worry about his allegiance ever again. Even when she’d been promoted over him, he’d been genuinely, insurmountably pleased for her. (The fact that she let him start his own sub-division in the gang only added to his pleasure.) And here they sat together after all this time, no longer just as coworkers but as friends, genuine friends. 

The rest of the drive to Cullen and Leliana’s house was spent in companionable silence. Though Bull could undoubtedly tell every block made Asena’s anxiety rise, he didn’t press, didn’t insult her by trying to calm her down for which she was grateful. As they pulled up to the house, she had to pause to take a quick breath. Josephine’s bike and Cullen’s car both sat out in the open, which meant at least the two of them were home. The Iron Bull waited for Asena to put her cool face back on, ever patient. “We’ll, uh… We’ll unload and then I’ll knock.” She nodded, more to herself than to him. “Yeah.”

Bull nodded in agreement and hopped out of the car. “You got it, Boss.” They made quick work of it and took special care to arrange it neatly on the porch. Once it was all arranged, Bull went to wait by the car, giving her her space to do what she needed.

She had to take another breath to steady herself and cursed her weakness. No other woman had ever made her flounder like this. It was embarrassing. Asena Adaar does not get butterflies, god dammit. Yet here she was. No, best to get it over with quickly. Without thinking about it, she knocked three times on the door and took a respectful three steps back, her hands clasped in front of her.

The door swung open, and Cullen stepped out, blinking up at her. “A-Asena. Um. Hi.”

She looked him over once then peered easily into the house. “Is she here?”

“Josephine? I… um. Uh, no. No, she’s not.”

Oh. How could such a simple statement invoke such a sense of relief and sadness all at once? “Oh. Well, I’m moving in with Bull and the boys, so, I brought her things to her. Could you please see to it she gets them?” She gestured towards the boxes on the porch.

Cullen looked over at them then back at her, blushing furiously. He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. “I mean, of course, but… You know she moved back home, right? T-To Antiva City.”

She… Clearing her throat, Asena shook her head. “I was not aware of that, no.” What the fuck were the people watching her doing if not their jobs? She should have been informed.

“She uh… She left two days ago, as a matter of fact.”

“Well. I apologize for the imposition, Cullen. I’ll have a friend come by and… I guess ship these to her or something. Um. Excuse me.” Turning on her heel, she stalked off the porch quickly and beelined for the car. Bull was already waiting in the driver’s seat, ready to go.

Asena Adaar is a strong woman, prided herself on her ability to press down any negative emotions and never _ever _cry. But as Bull weaved his way through traffic, Asena wept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to wrap this up either tomorrow or the next day. I really didn't want this to become some big long project, but here we fuckin are I guess.

**Author's Note:**

> "Hermosa" means beautiful. So, Asena is calling her "Beautiful Josephine."


End file.
